“So being the polite nice American girl that my momma raised me to be, I kind of just gave [the Asian student on the phone] … ‘It’s the library, like we’re trying to study, thanks!’ And then it’s the same thing five minutes later. But it’s somebody else, you know? I swear they’re going through their whole families, just checking on everybody from the tsunami thing. … Like, you seriously should go outside if you’re going to do that.”

The price for a packet of 14 potassium iodine pills, normally $10, has skyrocketed to as much as $450 after fears of a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Potassium iodine (KI) saturates the body with “stable” iodine, blocking the thyroid glands’ intake of radioactive iodine. (via Geekosystem)

Last Friday, UCLA student Alexandra Wallace recorded a video rant expressing her frustrations with Asians who talk on their cell phones in the library. But apparently, her qualms with Asians extend beyond the library.

A 70-year-old woman entered Osaka’s city hall today to donate 10 million yen to the Japan earthquake relief effort. She handed over the money — equivalent to $121,610 US dollars — in a “cash-filled bag.” (via @DailyYomiuri)

One broadcaster from YokosoNews based in Yokkaichi, Japan is helping translate the live Japan Broadcasting Corporation NHK TV stream into English. He’s on his third energy drink (it’s the middle of the night there), so if you can’t catch him now, be sure to check back tomorrow.

UPDATE:Watch the live stream of the 24/7 NHK World TV below. We have replaced NHK’s live stream with CNN’s, to lessen the burden on Japanese bandwidth during this urgent period.

Japanese speakers subscribed to Time Warner, Comcast, and other TV service providers should also check out the premium Japanese channels, which have been made freely available. (via Boing Boing)

In what was either a brutally honest security analysis or a public relations nightmare (or both), US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stated Thursday that China posed a “mortal threat” to the United States.